Bizarre 1st loss for Mitchell

As Dellin Betances struck out the side to end the top of the eighth inning, a thought raced across the mind of Joe Girardi.

Bring Bryan Mitchell into the game for the ninth, tie it up in the bottom half and then have Mitchell move to first base — a position he hadn’t played since high school — so he could remain available to pitch later in the game. And when Didi Gregorius tied the game with a two-run single in the ninth, the unconventional plan became a reality.

“It was the only way to use [Aroldis Chapman] to give us a chance in the bottom of the [10th] inning to win the game and then go back to Mitchell,” Girardi said after the Yankees fell to the Orioles, 7-4, in 11 innings. “Just trying to win the game.” The plan got off to a rocky start. Almost immediately, Mitchell was tested at first base on a pop-fly off the bat of Welington Castillo. Mitchell stepped back, then charged the top-spinning baseball into foul ground but could not haul it in for an error. One batter later, Mitchell (1-1) had redemption on a pop-up from Jonathan Schoop, snaring it easily, much to the delight of those left inside Yankee Stadium.

“I guess I went back too far and the ball had too much spin and I never got there,” Mitchell said of his adventurous one-inning stint in the field. “I thought I was going to catch it. Luckily the next one was closer to me.”

When the Yankees failed to capitalize in the bottom half of the 10th after they had the bases loaded, the second half of Girardi’s plan moved into play.

Mitchell, who became the first Yankees pitcher to play a position other than pitcher since Ron Guidry in the 1983 “Pine Tar Game,” returned to the mound more than an hour after his last previous pitch and retired J.J. Hardy to begin the frame. Then, he ran into trouble.

Following a Joey Rickard single and lineout by Adam Jones, Mitchell intentionally walked Manny Machado to set up a force with Mark Trumbo at the plate. Mitchell fell behind Trumbo 2-0 before an errant fastball caught too much of the plate. Trumbo singled, allowing Machado to score. Castillo followed with a single of his own, giving the Orioles a three-run lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

“It was definitely fun,” Mitchell said. “It’s something that’s definitely new to me. Going from pitching, to the field and back to pitching. You never know what to expect.”